Monday, October 12, 2009

Collecting Data in the School District, Clinic or Home

School based occupational and physical therapists are responsible to track a student's progress with regards to the goals that pertain to their area of expertise. This is done my daily notes, monthly progress reports and annual reviews. Goals are created by the IEP team and in some cases by the therapists themselves depending upon the school district. The goals that are created are measurable. The same holds true in the clinic and home - there should be goals that are measurable.

What about when it comes to modifications or interventions that a therapist recommends? These suggestions should be measured to determine whether they are effective or not. One way that this could be done is using Google Docs. You can use Google Docs to create data collection charts for free. You can then have the school staff or the therapist record the data regarding the outcomes. Here is an example of a form created using Google Docs to measure the effectiveness of physical activity breaks during the school day for a specific student. Once the form is completed the data is collected in a spreadsheet which looks like this.

This form was created as an example to track whether physical activity breaks are effecting the student's academic success. This could be done with many other modifications to get more specific data collection. In my opinion, this is a great tool to track sensory diets that are in place for a student. Depending upon the students that you work with you could track the use and outcomes of weighted vests, sitting on therapy ball in class, preferential seating, compression garments and more.

Maybe track when the best time would be for a student to use different types of adaptive equipment. For example, try using a standing frame at different times of the day or during different classes to determine the best time to utilize the equipment to effect the child's education.

Need ideas for physical activity breaks? Check out Mini Movement Breaks.
Create your own form to track the benefits of the physical activity breaks like this form.

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Disclaimer

These pages are not intended to provide medical advice or physician/therapist instruction. Information provided should not be used for diagnostic or training purposes. Consult a therapist or physician regarding specific diagnoses or medical advice.